Soil collapse kills engineer at Simhastha fair venue in Ujjain

An engineer was buried alive under a pile of soil at the Simhastha fair venue in Ujjain, police said on Saturday.

An engineer was buried alive under a pile of soil at the Simhastha fair venue in Ujjain, police said on Saturday. His body was extricated from a 30-foot-deep trench after 30 minutes operation on Friday, they said.

Prakhar Gupta, 26, was working with the KK Span Pipe private Ltd, a Faridabad-based company, to lay a 19-km pipeline from Raghopipliya village to Kaliadeh Mahal to divert the water of Khan River (from Indore) from Kshipra in Ujjain.

A resident of Kanpur, Gupta had joined the company only 10 months back. On Friday, he had gone down the trench for taking some measurement when the soil collapsed on him, burying him alive. The four to five labourers working at the site managed to escape from the spot.

The incident once again exposes how construction companies are overlooking safety measures in the state.

According to norms each workers at a construction site must be secured with a safety belt so that he can be pulled up in case of any emergency. The workers must also be equipped with helmet and oxygen.

City superintendent of police (Madhavnagar), Vijay Dawar, said a case had been registered at Nanakhera police station. “The authorities of the company could be booked if it is found that their neglect was the cause of Gupta’s death, he added.

The concerned water resources department has also been directed to submit an inquiry report on the matter, divisional commissioner Ravindra Pastore told HT.